Should you become an All-rounder or Expert? | Generalist vs. Specialist Research & Debate

[@CeliaLewis-f8m]

When you eventually have hundreds of thousands of subs, just wanna say I was here before 1k. Also this video was awesome. As a fellow generalist seeing the way you illustrated and visualised the ways in which you’re able to combine and utilise skills like that was really thought provoking.

[@tillmusshoff]

I appreciate your faith in me 🙏🏻🚀

[@jaykay-_-ok]

I found this channel at 10k

[@panshul520]

I'm here at 13.2k but hey still early

[@ligayaphotocinema]

@@tillmusshoff This video resonates with me. I’m a generalist too. With vast array of skills. Above average at most. 7-8/10 of mastery. I felt bad lately that I won’t amount to anything with this approach. But your video made me realize being a generalist is like a Mixed Martial Artist.

[@ROBERUSAN]

Now there are more than 24,600 subscribers. Keep going!

[@ToanduE]

The problem is it is very hard for people to tell the difference between a generalist who genuinely has knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines and fields and a con-artist who just pretends to be one. Most of the time when I met someone who seems to be a generalist, after a while, I realized most of them are just empty tanks who love to brag about something they don't really understand. And it is dangerous to put trust, time, and money into those people.

[@smirkdogeface]

Same thing can go for experts tho, I've seen people claiming to be experts at something, but turns out the "professional information" they offered can be literally Googled with the right keywords.

[@edwardrocca]

It's all "show dont tell" in the end right? Someone claiming to be a generalist but has nothing to show for it can't really claim to be anything. They might have a broad array of interests, but that doesn't mean they have any level of skill within the domains they're interested in.

[@PutineluAlin]

Look for the most "tired of this stuff" and you will find that unicorn.

[@ToanduE]

@@smirkdogeface it is easier to spot the fake expert because after a short while, you can see the fake expert clearly doesn't have the depth that an expert supposed to have. But the strength of a generalist is not the depth but the width, and someone can talk about a lot of topics for a long period of time while still appear that they quite know what they're talking about.

[@draco147]

​@@smirkdogeface Isn't that the point? He has the information right away to make decisions after another while a non-expert will have to google each problem they find and make sense of the new info. You become an expert for having knowledge, not for making new knowledge that google can't find.

[@husn222-g6f]

Sometimes my curiosity scares me. I always want to learn everything that piques my interest. In effect, I feel like falling behind in my career. I feel I should only focus on one thing and be perfect at it. This leads to depression. Suppressing my desire to learn new things and only focusing on one makes me not want to do anything at all. This video has opened my eyes. Thank you for this amazing lesson. I can now go ahead and do what I like, not what I think I must do. I think it will be fun knowing a handful of skills. I don't want to be an expert. I don't want to be perfect. All I want is to be content with whatever I do.

[@realglutenfree]

If you wanna watch some more interesting videos about generalists and organizing, I would recommend you this channel: www.youtube.com/@elizabethfilips Her videos have helped me a lot over the last couple of months and are actually helpful for living a chaotic life that is still somehow organized.

[@gior987]

Your comment was very insightful and made me relate so hard to "Suppressing my desire to learn new things and only focusing on one makes me not want to do anything at all"! Thanks for sharing!

[@thaivunguyen8728]

Thanks for insight. Im in the same position as you and understand the feeling completely

[@hackedtechnothief]

same here. I was searching for answers on the internet and ended up here. I'm glad to say that I will keep on learning and challenging myself to feel better about myself. I don't care to be an expert, I care to experience things. that's what keeps me want to live.

[@Alex-ns6hj]

You’re not alone bro, I definitely feel like I fell behind one year. This last year, I went to college because I was forced to by my parents. I had no idea what I wanted to do. So I spent it trying to make a business and decided school doesn’t know how to actually start a business, which is the degree I went for. I barely passed my classes, all Cs cuz I was tryna do business, reading, and learning everything I could. School was very boring cuz it didn’t help me accomplish anything I wanted. During this whole year, I basically used ChatGPT to do test which were online and projects I cared less about that didn’t teach me anything. I learned basically the courses through reading books and my own efforts. So then recently I got excited and obsessed over engineering. Everything about it. I want to make stuff and with my newfound business knowledge I learned such as copywriting (now with ChatGPT lol), marketing funnels, sales, website design, etc, I can start a business with some engineering knowledge I put to use for a future company. Still have entrepreneurial skills and vision. Don’t let your parents make you feel like you’re failing, it just takes longer for some people to know what they want to study and/or do with their life. I learned what it takes and means to be creative, a deep thinker, and fast learner through reading specific books and extensive research. This is a single year that school can never teach me and that anyone can take away from me. Same to you.

[@mr.winter538]

In case anyone is interested I will leave some more thoughts I had about this subject here. First I would like to make the point that the logic presented in the video can be reversed and applied to specialists as well. Any specialist will also be a generalist because having a lot of knowledge about a certain topic also gives you the ability to master various skills and gain a lot of basic insight into other topics. For example a degree and experiences in physics can lead to understanding things varying from parts of engineering such as electrical engines to space travel and rocket science. Elon Musk used this concept to build up successful companies in these exact regions. With this in mind I would say that while neither being an expert nor specializing is objectively better, both have their advantages and disadvantages. I would like to list some with regards to two things: security and efficiency of time use. In both of them both specialists and generalists are facing unique problems. The security of a specialist is mostly threatened by a lack of diversity. If the field he is an expert in has trouble, he has no ability to move to other fields because his abilities are too focused. For example if someone who is the best at designing new cars is in a situation where cars have been entirely replaced by public transport, they will lose their career. On the other hand, a generalist’s security is mostly threatened by too much competition. Since they are not experts in any of the fields they are in, if the fields suddenly become very popular no one will need them anymore because others who are more efficient will simply be used instead. This has already happened with a big part of the programming world, were programmers are often replaced by people from India who will do more work for less. Next I would like to take a look at efficiency. Here the specialist has a problem with the translation of expertise to new skills. If this translation would be described by a function, it would be a logarithmic one. Most skills one gains from knowing things about a certain topic are acquired in the early stages of learning. However a specialist will continue to learn about a topic, even if this stage is surpassed and the amount of extra knowledge required to gain new skills starts to increase. For example if someone learns the basics of video editing, it won’t take long for them to be able to do things such as cutting parts out or editing in basic text. However these things are what will be needed the most for editing most videos. Anything going beyond this such as making transitions incredibly smooth or knowing when to add in some stock footage to make things more interesting require quite a bit of learning while not adding as much to the viewer experience. The generalist on the other hand has a problem with inefficient topics. Learning about some things, such as how to learn more effectively, is vastly more efficient and helpful than learning about other things, such as how to read hieroglyphs. While in these two examples the difference is obvious, a lot of the time it is hard to distinguish between topics which are very useful and other which are not. For example learning a new language might seem less useful since English can be used in most parts of the world, however after doing so one might realize that they can suddenly understand and use vastly more internet resources, scientific papers, get more and more varied opinions and so on. On the other hand learning to play chess might seem like a good idea because it can be used to brag to friends and it helps train intelligence, however in actuality it is difficult to brag with being good at chess as soon as there is a single person better than you and the part of intelligence that is being trained is mostly pattern recognition which our brains are already naturally good at. Because this difficulty to estimate the usefulness of topics the generalist, who chooses topics to learn about vastly more often than the specialist, is taking the risk of learning about topics which aren’t that useful far more often, which is likely to waste time in the long run. So to summarize, specialists can have advantages of generalists and vice versa. Just like specialists tend to have more problems with gaining new skills through their expertise and have bigger problems when sectors they rely on struggle or close, generalists are more likely to be outcompeted by people who are more efficient in specific topics which a lot of the topics they know about rely on and they have a higher chance of wasting time learning about topics which translate to comparably few skills. Of course everything is more complicated than presented here. Specialists also face competition and generalists can also learn so much about topics that their learning starts becoming inefficient. However I would argue that the trends listed here at least give some good direction to what the two groups are good at and what they tend to struggle with. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read through all of this.

[@tashfeenomran3888]

Very informative and well thought off!

[@adedejijubril8048]

This very insightful. Thanks a lot

[@khalidyousef9065]

Thank you for sharing this!

[@sinfinite7516]

Great comment

[@yuelinlives]

Amazing comment bro

[@ktvx.94]

I'm 28 and have reached very similar conclusions to yours. I found that the accelerating returns are only a part of the learning curve. The first few steps are hard and slow, then you "click" and massively accelerate the learning, but after a while it starts slowing down as you need an increasing amount of effort to refine a skill further, and then burnout hits. I found that not only is it more efficient to switch around fields of expertise, but also sometimes you just learn passively when you stop trying, and when you get back to what you were practicing, you're instantly better. Accelerating adaptation + riding the learning curve for the maximum amount of learning over time is the way to go for me.

[@aimee9478]

Turned 29 recently and reached the absolutely same conclusion! More people should see this comment.

[@spookyplaystation]

Yeah I found my skill to increase in various creative fields literally by doing nothing other than not trying. Very strange and almost a bit frustrating because prior to recognizing this I could spend excessive amounts of time practicing something without seeing any improvement. It seemed to be the thing that allowed me to advance from that lull in growth was to take a break. I have no idea materially how this would make any difference, yet somehow it does.

[@exmodule6323]

Is there more literature on this? (Especially the passive learning part)

[@firstever27]

"Learn passively when you stop trying, and when you get back to what you were practicing, you're instantly better" - brother i´m 38 and still my inner child is here cause i love learning, and its changed my lige and still is changing

[@ktonickss]

"When you have attained the way of strategy there will be not one thing that you cannot understand. You will see the way in everything." - Miyamoto Musashi

[@Hamzus97]

I always wanted to be a generalist, unfortunately a lot of people tells me that is not the way to become a "professional" and it won't take you places, I tried to specialize and just focus on just one topic but that was not fun for me and I learned that there is no issue with being "specialized generalist like you said" having an in-depth knowledge about a topic and still act really fine with many others and that helps learning new topic and the best part is you can switch your main subject and get in-depth in any other topic when you want to. I LOVE BEING GENERALIST

[@AltruisticWarrior]

The only downside with being a specialist, if you're not able to do that job anymore, you're useless. A generalist can adapt and transition well enough in so many areas and knowing other things outside of that duty can serve you more than you know even when seemingly unrelated. It's all about adaptation. Much the same, I'm proud to be a generalist.

[@aena5995]

@@AltruisticWarrior what about studying something specialised like business data analytics instead of something like CS in the bachelor's ?

[@scepticalchymist]

While it is true that early specialization can bring one into a job, it can be the wrong thing to do, when one realizes ten years later that this specialization, lacks the possibility of expansion. One might should try to do both. Specialize on a topic, but generalize your skills, so that the topic can be switched at some time later.

[@ligayaphotocinema]

12:52 This quote is spot on. Being a top 25% means you must be an 8/10 in your skill level to that profession. Make it 3-5 interconnected skills. Not the best but not average. Dang.

[@Gaphalor]

I am 26 years old now and I always struggled because I know I am a Generalist but tried so hard to be a specialist. I broke up my degree to go into a different direction just to find myself in a different specialist direction. I ditched it aswell and only now I found a degree who actually suits me: a technical designer, a mix between engineer and designer. (I did car design first stopped and went into engineering and stopped it aswell and only then found this special degree in my country who is actually advertised to be for generalists. I am 26 and thought I failed but it's just that it took me so long to find the suitable place for me to flourish.

[@yuelinlives]

Keep going dude! Never settle

[@Gaphalor]

@@yuelinlives thanks man God bless you

[@KhmerTarotReading]

Let you shine in your spotlight ❤ ✨ Thank for surviving champ

[@Gaphalor]

@@KhmerTarotReading thanks buddy appreciate it!

[@robbedeguytenaer4306]

Haha i’m doing the same study as you (industrial design) for the same reason (generalize)

[@KingJellyfishII]

The idea of a special generalist resonated with me a lot. I have a wide range of things I know a reasonable amount in, like cooking, sailing, mathematics, biology, woodworking, engineering... and a few things I have deeper knowledge of like CS, physics, chemistry and electronics. I'm by no means a specialist in any of those things but I would say I am above average in at least some of them

[@cyong]

Great video! Personally, I'd prefer to become a generalist, but current society rewards specialists more than generalists. Your model has made me think differently about how to survive in this world

[@konofx_]

I really liked your video so I will share my knowledge about this topic if anyone wants to read it, this might help you take a route in your life. I am a specialized generalist. I always say that generalists and specialists need each other. Business owners are usually generalists, while they hire specialists. If it wasn't this way, the world wouldn't function. I often discuss this with my father. People who give their all to one single task exist to assist or be assisted by those who grasp more things, in this case, the generalists. For example, if you are good at drawing, but only at drawing, you risk not being able to scale because the only thing you know how to do is draw. If you can't sell your drawings, you may struggle financially. (I don't mean this literally, as there are many successful artists, but more in the sense that if you make $200,000 a year from drawing, but your only source of income is from your drawings, you are dependent on that one skill and may be at risk if sales of your artwork ever stop) so even if you think this is more stable you're still at constant risk you just feel it less. On the other hand, if you are good at drawing but you have this partner (in this case, it's the company you work for or your business partner) who has general abilities such as persuasion, marketing, and branding skills, they can take your drawings and convince others that they need what you produce, capitalizing on your work 100 times more than what you could have done in a lifetime on your own. This is because you lack the necessary skills to sell your artwork. Now, if you are decent at drawing and have good persuasion, marketing, and branding skills, you become a "specialized generalist" which is IMO the best of them all if you want to be a business owner or make lots of money even being employed because you know how the game works, so you"ll be a more valuable asset to your company resulting in a higher pay and you can also do something on the side that earns you more money in the long run. This type of person knows many skills, but has them well balanced. It's like a video game: you start with AGI 0, STR 10, SPD 3. Your goal should be to make AGI and SPD close to STR, to be a better player. If you only raise STR, that will doom your character because you are putting all your eggs in one basket. resulting in you having to have a party (in this case your job/partner) to do the dirty job for you. This is why business owners keep getting wealthier and people with a lot of talent stay at the bottom, because they only care about one skill and don't learn how to be well-rounded. when In reality, human life is designed to be well-rounded, not specialized. (They're more like solo players that then make parties to be able to do twice the amount of what they can achieve in less time, resulting in higher quantities. aka. more money) Because dude think about it, in order for you to take care of others you must take care of yourself, in order for you to eat you must know how to kill which confirms, which ironically this is taught in school and it's even a scientific method we just don't get it addressed correctly, FOR DOING SOMETHING GENERAL YOU MUST DO SOMETHING SPECIFIC. Our life is something full of generals that include specifics. not just a single specific. If you take away all modern distractions and imagine we are placed in the real world, in order to survive, you need to know how to make fire, kill an animal, create a shelter, take care of basic hygiene and more. If there are two people in a cold place, and one only knows how to kill an animal, while the other knows all of the things mentioned, it's clear who will survive. So if you don't care for learning more in life and you just want to do nothing, this person with general skills will take your skills and leverage them 100 times. If you want to be wealthy, I recommend learning multiple things, but not just for the sake of knowing them. Instead, aim to mix them together and create something scalable. This will also teach you how to gather a good team. It's not the same owning a bakery and hiring someone to do the accounting if you know nothing about numbers, compared to owning a bakery and being able to do intermediate accounting yourself. If you know the rules of accounting, you will be able to judge the skills of the person you hire. But if you don't have that knowledge, anyone could scam your business and you would have to learn the hard way. It makes sense that it's this way, because In the past, greedy people liked to keep their workers ignorant so they could keep them in check, which is how we are educated in school. (this is why history is important) But if wealth is what you are seeking, this is not enough. If you are okay with just having a decent up & down life, then that's fine. But if you want more than that, you need to learn new things every day. We humans either grow or deteriorate, there's no staying the same. you either advance or go back, if time passes and culture changes you stay behind others keep moving forward, if you only learn how to use machines manually someone will invent a way of making the machine work by itself and basically kill what you've been doing for years in an instant. you need to constantly seek for knowledge. I think where school fails is saying "don't learn multiple things, specialize in something because if you want to learn multiple things you'll end up mediocre" they should say "Master something, and THEN learn something else because if you want to learn everything at once you will be mediocre at them all" the problem is not wanting to learn more guys, it's wanting to do it all at once. Success for every one of y'all! 🧐🧐

[@joshuangugi6774]

This is deep. Thank you for taking your time to share this information. I will keep on getting the skills and practicing them.

[@palesamphatsoe959]

I feel like this is a sign, and I was meant to read this. Thank you so much 😭

[@Dismiazs]

This probably what I needed the most right now. Thank you!! I've always been torn between doing several things that I love to do or specialize in one of them in order to be successful. I hope one day I'll come back to this video to tell my story. Good luck for other generalist fellows

[@monkeeseemonkeedoo3745]

I think ideally, it's a mix of both. For example, I like to gain more knowledge about the world from experts in areas like history, politics, religion, physics, philosophy, etc. But I also work to deepen my knowledge of the field I have specialized in, which is math, because I still have passion for it, and it can be used to model so many things. With more time, I'm hoping to add some areas of physics to my specializations, since this is also very interesting to me. Having watched more of the video, I guess the specialized generalist would be what I think is ideal.

[@albratgaming2348]

I love this video... I am definitely a Generalist. I have worked as a Mechanical Fitter for over 10 years. The job was very different from day to day. My hobbies introduced me to computers and train simulators... Which got me into presentation and hosting at model railway shows and from that I also got into computer programming... A long road but I have also done electrical work, wood working and many other things. Currently I am a content creator and Twitch streamer. I have done audio editing, video editing and a few other skills. I do computer repair and work a lot with problem solving. I have also done some things in mathematics and working out formula (before google existed.) working in MS office excel to make a spreadsheet formula to calculate a set of numbers from a set of measurements. (we used to manually type the sheets on a typewriter before the formula and print from computer.) The only thing I am bad at... is playing musical instruments. You can not really read your way to being good with a piano or flute...

[@FansOfCrypto]

I am a generalist who is now on a mission to become a specialist. The world is full of generalists - and that just makes you expendable. I came to the conclusion recently, that it's best to start as a generalist, with the goal to eventually pick your lane.

[@felicianothorpe8998]

I agree 100%

[@truthseeker7815]

Curious, I thought the world was full of ignorants

[@Ivan-bg1jp]

I agree that domain expertise is a must, then from there it will be all about how well you can learn a particular thing.

[@realtruth1448]

The world is full of people working hours and hours everyday for the rest of their lives, they aren’t generating much

[@Willg95]

I'm a generalist. Ive worked in hotel maintenance, shift manager for a local gas station company, tow truck operator and learned vehicle repair from my dad.

[@alexandersen4888]

Thank you. You’re the last piece of the puzzle to push me into being a KZbinr. I’ve also read “Range” and nodded a lot of times during the video. Now I’m definitely going to read “Mastery” as well 👌🏼🧐

[@mebtuberhanu]

I am 27 now. I had a generalist attitude all my life. I don't want to excel at a single topic. I have unquenchable curiosity. And journalist character. I have a degree in hydraulic engineering. But my school days were kind of boring to me. Now i figured out video creation and media will be best to satiate my generalist appetite. That's why i launched KZbin channel on which i upload curiosity driven documentary videos.

[@calfagra]

You can't be expert on anything but you can be expert in one thing and still all rounder

[@PerfectSense77]

I went down an Id Software rabbithole recently and John Carmack vs John Romero is the perfect example of specialist vs generalist while they were working together.

[@learnfrenchwithmervine]

Hey Till, I found this video very insightful. I came across the concept of polymath this year in February (through a TED Talk about Multipotentialites) and it spoke to my soul on such a high level. There's often this debate around being generalist VS specialist. I consider polymath as MULTI-SPECIALISTS. Personally, I am a full time senior legal counselor, I teach French online, I run a web design agency (a career that itself implies wearing many hats!!), I'm a freelance copywriter and I'm working on building my personal brand. I always believed that the human brain could handle multiple tasks and various careers. The truth is, there are so many things to learn, we live in a knowledge era and it's often very easy to spread too thin and get your attention scattered... They KEY SKILL for polymaths, at least to me, is to learn of to plan and organize your day into several blocks of deep work, otherwise it's wayyyy too complicated.... Anyways, not gonna keep going, otherwise I'm gonna make this comment a blog post lmfaooo Keep up the good work man!

[@user-kn8ee9fy4h]

Hi,I want to be a polymath too. But I am not good at planning and organizing my schedule. I totally agree with you. Can you recommend some strategies for me. It will be big help

[@afroking2935]

@@user-kn8ee9fy4h Same here

[@nimrod06]

Learn the skills you need in your life, it's that simple

[@firstlegende]

Creativity, depth and interesting topics. Never subcribed that fast

[@notsoluna3356]

you definitely exceptional in specializing in reverse engineering and the skills you have developed throughout the time, very influential thank you for this!

[@adamcummings2051]

This was a very insightful perspective on this question. I definitely think there is a place for both, but I'm definitely in the generalist boat.

[@isaakvandaalen3899]

Be good at the things you need and want to be good at. If that's not many things then you'll probably get really good at them. If that is many things, you'll have a broad skillset. Either approach can lead to success, so take the one that makes you happiest.

[@viickytea2933]

i wrote my college applications about this very topic, but i felt like they weren't as in-depth as i really wanted them to be. this was a great video and i wish i found it sooner.

[@mgtowvalues]

As a committed generalist with 10 years of university, the ability to build bridges across many disciplines and do so with understanding has been a key element of my career success. I recommend having a solid background in formal/symbolic logic and grammar. All channels of communication should be well practiced as should empathy. Grounding all of this for me is an understanding of the state of metaphysics, and thus, the difficulty of any person in any field to establish sufficient grounding for any opinion, judgment or assessment.

[@space.junk101]

If a generalist/specialist has the practical experience in the areas of interest, then both are valuable approaches. Generalists become good managers and also tend to be more flexible on the job market. Experts become key pillars to a business with their expertise. Both can run their own business by utilizing their key strengths. Key takeaway: dont be a slacker. Be good at what you do.

[@themodernmerchant]

Already one of my favorite channels! Thanks for your work, really excited to see what you have in store for us in the future.

[@CypherHive]

Wow! Great content! I've been a generalist for most of my life (I've even been called "Chuck of all Trades") but struggled with the societal notion that I must be a specialist or I will fail to succeed. I started making Bitcoin KZbin videos a few months ago to challenge myself publicly and expand my horizons. To be honest I became very jealous of the instant success of your last video because of the slow progress I have been making. Makes sense now given all of your experience in the content creation field. Even before you released this video I decided to just take it as an example of what is possible if I put my mind to it. Your quality of content is spectacular. You deserve every Sub and more. Thank you for the inspiration and the thought provoking content! Looking forward to your next video. Cheers!

[@tillmusshoff]

Thank you Chuck! Just keep doing what you are doing and try to improve the production quality of your videos here and there over time. It really is not magic, but a very approachable field you can learn through tutorials on KZbin. The internet is the best private school on earth. The videos I make take a lot of time, so I appreciate everyone who supports me! :)

[@ammarreda39]

" Monetize ur learning curve " Thats one of my main takeaways man , thanks، really an eye opening video 💜

[@rift4984]

Absolutely amazing content my man. Please keep them coming!

[@lanzcordero2132]

As a 21 year old with lots of interests and passion, this is perfect. Thank you for this. 💯

[@kelvingitari]

I think what the generalist idea is describing is multipotentiality. I recently discovered/realized that I am a multipotentialite after a deep reflection on what I want to identify as. This was such a relatable video.

[@mikejiang7335]

This was recommended to me and I thought it was levy’s new video 😂

[@vlaad2799]

Seeing how many books you read, I would absolutely love a video where you talk about the books which have had the biggest impact on you!

[@matustapak8201]

Summary by ChatGPT: ●Advantages of being a specialist: ●Develop deep expertise in a particular field ●Increased job security ●Better pay ●More job opportunities ●Advantages of being a generalist: ●Broader set of skills ●More adaptable to change ●More valuable to companies in today's fast-paced business environment ●Research suggests generalists are more valuable and in-demand in today's business environment: ●Able to see the big picture ●More adaptable to change ●More diverse skillset ●More open to learning new things ●Conclusion: ●Both generalists and specialists have their own pros and cons ●Finding the right balance is important ●Choice depends on the job market and the individual's goals and personality

[@sumitsagarg]

You need to make more videos on learning mate. Would love to learn from you. I'd love to know you better. Thanks mate.

[@jhoncadalin5887]

One of the best way to find a field that suits you and spend the rest of your life to be an expert is to take a personality test and answer it honestly and look for career suggestion based on your personality. I switched major a year ago because I like the first one but it didn’t suit me, but I LOVE the one I am taking now because it suits my personality very well.

[@johngallagher72]

You are absolutely right ..tbh I think the video presenter is a bit incorrect when he says your personality changes over time ..ive taken personality tests multiple times since early 20s and now at 50 nothing has changed ...still INFJ ..still Holland Cod ESC (social and conventional very close) still very high in openness, conscientious ness, moderate agreeableness and neuroticism and low in extraversion (the big 5) ...tbh I don't think these change they haven't at least in my expereince. Not sure if u follow Jordan Petersen but I think he said these traits remain stable and don't change over someone's lifetime. You make a great point about the importance of personality tests in career planning.

[@JasonTaylor-po5xc]

Depends on the field. The IT field changes so much that being a generalist is a great strategy - this is where I am. However, if you look at the medical field, the specialists make the most money by a long shot. They hyper-specialists tend to be the ones making breakthroughs and moving the field forward. For example, Dr Norwood came up with a series of heart surgeries that made it possible to save the lives of children born with a very significant but rare congenital heart defect (HLHS). His "Norwood procedure" has since been improved upon by other top pediatric cardiologist surgeons.

[@Salamaleikum80]

I feel like presenting yourself as a specialist outwards while beeing a generalist inside is the best approach. Because otherwise the halo effect works against you. Beeing mediocre in one thing will make you look mediocre in other parts. While beeing exceptional in one thing will.make you look like you are going to be good in anything. The best video on this topic comes from thefutur on utube where Chris explains that perfect. Oh and google hates generalists and actively punishes channels when they reach out to multiple target audiences as well. Some have shown this Problem with tests and statistics. Another thing is "Creative people are addicted to the new." Thats why its so much harder for us to specialize.

[@tillmusshoff]

This is very good advice! Thanks for sharing.

[@Salamaleikum80]

@@tillmusshoff oh i just saw that you speak about the Specialized - Generalist, which is basically what I was trying to say, nevermind :D

[@DerBarde2012]

Fast 40 und ein 20er erklärt mir die Welt. Danke dafür!

[@sadattahmeed7462]

Came for the GothamChess twin in thumbnail. Stayed for the content.

[@ramchandravarshney4149]

Me too

[@AltruisticWarrior]

I'm regarded as a "know it all" by those around me including my employers. A generalist of sorts. It's served me well in my life. Good example, I have past knowledge of GIS/AutoCad, mechanic work, advanced driver training from Toyota and a construction background. My current job I've broken 20 year company records because I can off road properly, fix my truck and spray equipment on the spot and read maps accurately and locate manholes quickly more than most... an example. I also know light programming and windows/linux/office and this served me well working for the VA where I also broke records with credentialing despite no direct experience. I will vehemently argue that most often being a generalist will serve you well in work and life. There are rare times where I will absolutely consider a specialist for a task... say a surgeon. I don't care if they tell good jokes or play tennis on the weekends; give me the highest skilled person.

[@iamcmac]

Found you from r/entrepreneur. 2 minutes and I'm digging this. Subbed! Good luck in the growth of your AWESOME channel :)

[@rwong1984]

I don't normally comment on KZbin videos, but your videos are real gems. Great work.

[@tillmusshoff]

Thank you! 🙌

[@Konscious311]

The struggle for me as a generalist is that i’m indeed good at or knowledgable about a lot of things. Either professionally or as a hobby, yet i’m always comparing myself to specialists in all those fields and feel that I don’t excel in any particular thing. Having been diagnosed with ADHD recently this all started to make perfect sense as i’m always 200% interested into 1 thing and after a few weeks it changes to something else. How i’m trying to deal with it professionally is to indeed not specialize. As a product owner for multiple development teams I make sure to keep my knowledge very broad. I know just enough about everything to understand the overall picture and therefore people start to come to me because I know which experts to involve out of all the specialized fields. While I do have the overall responsibility, I never claim to be the expert in any particular field and always give that credit to the teams. So in the end I more or less figured it out professionally but i’m still trying to find a way to deal with my ever changing hobbies. 😂 PS: longest comment I ever wrote on youtube but I hope it helps at least 1 person.

[@User-pu3lc]

“Jack of all trades, master of none, though often times better than master of one” I believe is how the full quote goes… I’ve found success by going deep in one area then using that to spread my breadth of knowledge and skills to become more well rounded

[@breddafredda]

Dein Content is hammer. Total inspirierend und interessant. Ich freu mich sehr auf mehr :)

[@tonatiuhl.8433]

This is something i needed to watch, ive always had the idea that having "enough" knowledge to get by a lot of topics its really useful SPECIALLY during this times, like, i may dont know the exact answer, but i know how to direct you to find it, or i know who can provide that answer, then i can lear that answer as well and thats free knowledge and experience for everyone involved

[@TheKingBeyondEverything]

Tbh, become a generalist in most things but become a specialist in the thing you either understood most or love most. This will not just help you to understand many situations in your life. And by being specialising in one area you can earn money to make generalize further. For e.g: I, a totally random non-native speaker of English, loves and understands science most. Now, I'll spend majority of my energy on learning Science and the field I understand. But I'll also learn how to speak more language especially English to be understood more. Then, I'll spend some of my power on learning how to fight, run and survive. After that I'll learn somethings about how Economics, Commerce, Arts, Tech., Philosophy work. Because I understand Science, I get a added advantages pf leaning science, like a habit to probe for truth and understand difficult language. Because, now, I'd be able to understand complex language better I could use that to increase my English Skills. And with better Vocabulary and Grammar, I would be able to understand Philosophy and Law better. Understanding Philosophy will get me to understand Arts better. So, at this point it should be clear. That 1st generalizing and then specialising will get you lots of tools in your arsenal to use to combat not just every day problems but also help you in completing your long run goals easier. Thanks For Reading 😅.

[@khier-eddinehennaoui9783]

Damn that phrase "I aim to be sufficiently good to create meaningful results " will be hopefully coded in my brain, it's makes us remember why we learn in the first place and that the dichotomy of expert/generalist is "fabricated". Thanks for enlightening me.

[@triplemmm333]

"just a 24 year old random dude" - man, now I feel the anxiety coming in, I am 23 years old and all I accomplished is collecting mistakes.

[@njbrea]

Mistakes are seeds. Grow fruits from those seeds.

[@yuelinlives]

Thank you Till! You really have the production quality and insights of someone that is deserving of so much more. Excited to see where you go in the future!

[@tonyb9290]

This popped up for me today out of the blue, and I gotta say well put. I’m more of a generalist in IT, no degree and turns out my certs are invalid because the army didn’t want to pay for it (I didn’t learn this till it was too late for me to fix or pay for myself) so no certs either. I can work on just about any kind of project, troubleshoot a much wider array of things than many people I know and work with. I’ve got a reasonable background in network administration, hardware and software troubleshooting, hell I can troubleshoot down to component level most of the time (though these days it’s more cost effective to just replace the part than fix it with our advanced manufacturing). I’ve even got my fingers into programming, which really helped me understand software related issues a lot better even though I’m a novice programmer. Having such a wide scope compared to most of my peers has allowed me to quickly make connections to seemingly unrelated changes and effects from security policies to updates/missing updates. I was able to look at a laptop model we were going to use and I nailed every single major hardware issue we would have and after two years I have been proven 100% correct on my predictions, which I already had worked out potential patches did until a new model was chosen. I’ve even taken in the last year to training and teaching others, which really made me refine each area i draw upon. So, I consider myself an advanced IT generalist. Not far enough down any field in IT to be a specialist, but too far down multiple fields to be just a generalist.

[@spcraftsman2656]

I'll write a little about my thought process on this topic. When thinking about whether to be a generalist or specialist, I look at it through a simple analogous system: a swiss army knife and a gun. In a situation where you need to defend yourself from a bear, you could use either, but a gun would be far superior than a small sharpened blade. But, how often do you get attacked by bears? What are the kinds of scenarios you are typically in? Can you cut a chord with a gun? Not very effectively. Can you unscrew something? Nope. Can you carve something? I would much rather be more a swiss army knife than a gun in my life.

[@bencoutts2437]

I started out as an expert but have later morphed into a generalist after learning all the other aspects I’ve had to learn to be a successful freelance audio engineer. I also suffer greatly from imposter syndrome which I’m learning to get over. Great video! It’s help a lot. Cheers 🍻

[@eclipticsonata1313]

@tobe170 Imposter syndrome is when you dedicate a lot of time to a skill and obviously know what you are doing, but for some reason you feel you are just bumbling around, and are lying to everyone about your skill. Like for me, I've made music for years, but continue to make many horrible mistakes, and second guess every decision. I also have studied Japanese language for years, so when someone asks me for the meaning of a word, and I don't know it, I feel like an imposter. You think something is supposed to be easy for you, but it isn't. Nothing becomes easy, it just becomes less hard.

[@eclipticsonata1313]

@tobe170 Sorry, I will make it more clear. Imposter syndrome is when you are good at a skill. It can be any skill. And maybe have that skill as your job. You maybe got a good position in your job because of this skill. However you do not feel you did anything special. You feel you do not deserve this good job position. You feel you are not as skilled as others think. Because you still find it difficult, even though you spent years on this skill. Also doesn't need to be a job, it can be a hobby, like guitar playing.

[@eclipticsonata1313]

@tobe170 Yes, that works.

[@WahabAwudu]

I feel proud now to be a generalist. I'm gonna wear that badge with courage going forward!

[@lars_vs]

Great video. For a long long time I’ve felt like I was always finishing second, but now I understand that that can be a very good thing.

[@lfk4981]

I haven't seen this depth knowledge of any other content creator. Thanks Till Great video.🥰🥰

[@tillmusshoff]

Glad it was helpful!

[@preetthakker4462]

Even though specialists life becomes monotonous....it's also a benefit as he's never going to have to again feel inferior and work hard for starting to learn new things as compared to the generalist whose life will always keep facing challenges and he needs to work hard every now and then for keep learning new things so he will never have a mental peace while the specialist will have as after mastering one field he doesn't have to worry about anything but learning many things and being good at them will never come to an end for the generalists so they won't have any rest in life mentally

[@diconicabastion5790]

It depends on the individual. I have a background that includes, Nuclear, Electrical and Equipment engineering with CS. But I've done vastly more than that. The range of work I have done allows me to usually see problems from a much broader perspective than the majority of people I work with. When it comes to solving problems or coming up with solutions it usually means I can identify the root issues and come up with the most practical and long lasting solution. Some people like myself can reach a goal of multiple specializations. Others can only specialize in one thing in the same amount of time. For me it has never been an issue with something fading out. But there are lots of people who thought specialization was an answer and ended up hurt because they were left without a job.

[@NikolaNevenov86]

As a generalist I have nothing but admiration towards the specialists. Let's face it, true masters of their trade are the specialists. However it does take a specific character to be a Specialist or a Generalist. I do find that Generalists are quite curious people who can get super passionate about a subject even if it doesn't make them money. That being said the economical environment and chance would dictate a lot, if one ends up being a specialist or a generalist. I personally had to go into many fields just to make ends meet. Which lead me to be a generalist. So being a Generalist or a Specialist depends a lot on the environment. If environment is stable, it's easier to become a specialist. If environment is unstable you have to become a generalist. That being said, I have to admit that I do feel a bit down when I think that I could had become a master in one of the fields I'm knowledgeable in. But on the other hand because of my wider knowledge base I can start projects with ease because I know what I need and how to do the job of 2-5 people, even if it's not on a pro level. But I think the concept of a Specialized Generalist is a more realistic one....want it or not, no matter how big of a Generalist you are, there will always be a field where you've done more, have more experience thus you are more specialized in.

[@vojtablbosti747]

The learning circle also works this way: you practice something over evenings after job > get your enough to do it as a job > spend 40h more a week practicing.

[@MihaiPinzariu]

it's good to have 1 main tool in your hand, but your skills belt should always be with you.

[@Sterh20]

Nice touch with vertical bar in quotes. Like in The Economist

[@sudarshanravi1565]

It is basically the debate on Introversion vs Extroversion . Those who are privileged or interested in a subject deeply or in arts and culture, tend to prefer introversion /specialist /technical jobs. and those who wish to achieve survival(+luxury) in world - business , politics leadership , management , administration etc rely on extroversion- a jack of all trades .

[@tillmusshoff]

I am not extroverted at all though nor care about politcs, power, management or luxury.

[@Alchimistje]

This video makes so much sense to me. I'd consider myself a specialized generalist as you put it. I am a one man company in media design. But nainly focussed on video and animation. Though making this company was only possible due to my experience in learning how to make websites, how to invest, and several internships where i have been in different scales of companies. Im not the best at everything I offer, but by doing stuff thats passable often enough, and having it judged by the public. I will improve more

[@metalmonkey128]

This really imspired me to plan on bulding my own Start-Up in the future when I have enough time to work on my ideas and involve others. Thank you very much!

[@tillmusshoff]

That‘s awesome to hear! Go for it!

[@S_Warden]

I believe in the principle of relative versatility. If the fields overlap in someway, then it’s valuable because you can utilize it to build a ideal path.

[@dinoscheidt]

What you describe is “Skill Stacking”. Love the neural network like illustration.

[@sketchflix6425]

Wow. Never knew there was ideals of this name. I knew I was intrested in many things and would love to work on everything, but wasn't aware of the ideal of Generalism. Nor the ideal of Specialism. Thanks for doing a video on this. Hope my algo gives more insightful videos like this in the future. Keep on thriving❤️.

[@hudsonkruse9313]

There could be a problem with defining an expert as one who knows a field much better than most.

[@yesjo1456]

I really struggle with fear of being ridiculed or being left out, and taking risks and opportunities for good idea's is right where that fear is most exposed. I think I should finish my college degree, because I definitely don't want to be without one, but I'll be 25 when I finish it (just turned 22 a few weeks ago). That's because I took a gap year after i stopped my other degree and i did one year over in high school. I am afraid that I won't have the time to do the things I want to do or achieve my goals (changing the education system). I don't know how to go about it, but I have a vision that I want to complete in my lifetime. I think I'm going too slow right now, and I think it would be my greatest disappointment in myself when I die if I didn't give it my all. I am in therapy right now to get me on the right track, but I should've done it earlier. Now everyone I know is going faster than I am, they are speeding through uni/college or are already working and just living life. I need all the time I can get to get my head in the right space and fully focus on what I want to achieve, and I think about my idea a lot aswell, but I'm just afraid that I'm going too slow. Sorry for just dumping this here, apparently that was needed. I will get out of my rut and this shitty headspace, in fact I've already made great progress. But I am a little bit fearful of the time I will have to set aside to get rid of my student debt, and I'm also afraid that I'll be stuck in an office. What I need to go and do is get rid of the student debt by working part-time, then doing a different job or trying to learn a new, different skill that I need to complete my goals, and at the same time research what it takes to change something like the education system. I need proof of concept somehow and I think it already exists, but I need more time to research everything.

[@tslee8236]

The question started with 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' Then it evolved into 'How do you become what you want to be?', 'How much time and effort is required?', , 'What is the likelihood of success?', 'Is it worth it?', ... Eventually I came to realise the 80/20 rule, there is always someone better than you, the last 1% takes more effort than the first 99%, and some things are so obvious that I wonder why an expert just don't see it sometimes. So I became a specialised generalist aka a manager by accident. Now, years later, I believe there are at least 3 levels in seeking knowledge. Step 1 - Be a generalist (A mountain is a mountain) Step 2 - Be a specialist (A mountain is not a mountain) Step 3 - Be a generalist (A mountain is still a mountain) And I suspect there may be a step 4 as I discover there are reducing tricks in my bag as I become better at what I'm doing. Or is it all just step 1? As the Castrol ad goes 'Oils ain't oils'...

[@tslee8236]

Ever wonder why Dr Who only has one tool?

[@wolvenedvard3049]

This video is so damn well edited and clear.

[@Airsoftshowoffs]

The comment on neural network and how skills build as a generalist to solve tasks really echos my view. Good work

[@tendamolesta]

Job-wise... It's definitely better being an expert. Interviewers are extremely strict with the things they do in a day by day basis and they typically ignore everything else. But the beauty lies in being a All-rounder... Finding a good all-rounder is a lot harder because it's more about trust rather than mnemonic questions.

[@Brainbytemedia]

A very helpful video! ❤ And generalism is the way for me. I have never been the one to obsess over any particular thing but I have always been fascinated with a lot of different things. I like living life holistically and full of meaning through all of the things that I enjoy doing.

[@peternguyen2022]

Thanks for a great video on an important decision, especially today when ChatGPT and similar AIs can do the specialized work (ex. writing, programming, etc.) that humans used to do. I feel like it's not a binary choice (i.e. either be a specialist OR a generalist). The following analogy might help: Would you rather be a general or a soldier? Obviously, one must become a soldier and execute "blindly" the learned procedure and follow orders from superior officers. Over time and with experience, one can rise through the ranks to become a sargeant, captain, colonel, general, five-star general. In terms of one's career or business, a person can usually be assessed objectively so as to determine where she is in a competency-based hierarchy. Whether it's an academic hierarchy (graduate, post-graduate researcher, associate professor, tenured professor, etc.), a military hierarchy, a political hierarchy or any type of hierarchy, there are usually ways to objective determine one's position. One can then figure out what is the next step up the "ladder", so to speak. Ken Wilber's concept of a holarchy can be useful: a holon is both a whole in itself, and a part of a greater whole. Ex. Atom, molecules, cells, organ, human body. From our military example above, we can see that the sargeant was once a soldier but he has transcended that role, in the same way that a colonel was once a captain, and a general was once a colonel. You can't skip any stage. In the West, people often view knowledge as something that exists OUTSIDE the human being while in the East, knowledge is intricately linked to the competent person who can consistently produce desirable results for his clients or employer. Indeed, a Chinese proverb says that "to know and not to do, is not yet to know." The very best book I've come across (and I've read over 1,000 non-fiction books) to help a person become a true expert, is Anders Ericsson's Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance. It is no longer enough to be an expert as things can change quickly; one must become an expert at becoming an expert.

[@crown_420]

The video is well crafted. You explained the topic after considering almost all the related possible factors! Eventhough it's underviewed, it is well researched💯

[@NairbRevilo]

Well done 👏 and good timing as I am battling whether I should niche down to messaging on my website

[@comebackata2]

serious question. this video is geared towards more entrepreneurial skills. that won't exactly get you the right kind of attention when you're applying for a job. That is to say a job that asks for specialist skills (most are). How can you compete when you only know maybe 20% of a particular skills requirement because your know-how is more divided. oversimplified example: a video editing position. you've done a bit here and there compared to someone who is purely doing video editing and growing on that?

[@tillmusshoff]

You are right, this video has a strong entrepreneurial bias. I have never applied for a job so I can‘t tell. I‘ve worked on videos for companies like Red Bull, Acer and Philips though, without being an expert.

[@raoulberret3024]

Very interesting! Thank you for the video essay!

[@PutineluAlin]

Sometimes it's never a choice, you have a project and you need this skill so you learn it, can take years but eventually you get there. Then it turns out you need another skill so you wear as many hats as you can. But then it turns into a juggle act where you have to keep all the plates spinning. You start breaking some plates and select the most important plates to spin for a long time. You also try to find other people to spin those plates but you only see them spinning a tea cup plate or a overly large plate that wobbles all the time. You still search for other people but find them spinning their own set of plates. Hope you like this analogy.

[@tillmusshoff]

I do like it!

[@LePeppino]

Sehr beeindruckendes Video. Habe an mehreren Stellen zustimmend nicken müssen und die Struktur war exzellent. Die verschiedenen Definitionen aus der Literatur und Interviews aufzugreifen und dann dein eigenes Modell bzw. deine Sichtweise einzubringen, war sehr schlüssig und interessant. Es hat teilweise in Worte gefasst, was ich seit Jahren gedacht, mir aber nie hundertprozentig bewusst gemacht habe. Daumen hoch und Abo ist raus!

[@sheafisher3578]

Generalist here. Amazing content.

[@boyantrifonov]

You are one of few people that mentions reverse engineering an outcome. I want to have a KZbin channel so now I am learning video editing, DaVinci Resolve, how to operate my new camera, my microphone, my lights etc. And this is before making videos on the topics I am interested in. So if someone wants to succeed on their own he needs a multitude of skills at an average level. Combining them makes you unique.

[@NicO-cm2xo]

I remember once an interviewer in a family office asked if I am really good at anything since my resume shows I can do most everything. I replied I am self-led generalist. I dint get the job. Years later I am a program leader.

[@StupidusMaximusTheFirst]

I think it depends on what you like or prefer. Your inclinations, experiences, everything has a role in your preferences, and you should listen to yourself, rather than what's popular, culture or the system. I kinda agree with you that people are more generalists than specialists, I think it's the system that mostly promotes specialists, so it can use those people for faster progress in a specific field, although, so they think, and this is debatable, as sometimes science is interwoven, and it really helps if you have general knowledge. Most scientists of the past were actually generalists - in fact, they would study everything, sometimes _including_ stuff we shun upon or consider as unscientific, such as alchemy or astrology. Isaac Newton was not a physicist, Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei were not astronomers, Leonardo Da Vinci was not a painter, and Pythagoras was not a mathematician - we just think they were, or we give them these labelled professions according to our understanding and culture, and according to the stuff we know about them or find most valuable out of all they did. The fact they went against cultural norms (maybe Galileo was a threat to the Pope and the status quo, but the Pope and the inquisition was a threat to humanity, they just didn't know at the time) or the fact they studied all they could is the reason for progress. You never know where you might get an idea for. Also something completely unrelated could actually help you in what you were after - you never know... I think any type is valuable, both specialists and generalists. Just as the in depth knowledge of a specialist can give you a solution to something a generalist cannot see, so can the broad knowledge of a generalist give you a solution a specialist cannot see.

[@HKstyleD]

I liked your explanation of being a specialized generalist but I also feel that this model for your Bitcoin video made sense because you produced it yourself. If instead, there was a team of specialists, each specializing in one of the topics you outlined (cs, entrepreneur, graphics designer, video editor) the quality of the outcome may have been much better. I personally strive to be a generalist but I would argue a team of specialists would easily outdo a single generalist. While humans may be generalists in nature, we are also great at teamwork and collaboration

[@tillmusshoff]

Yes ofc it would have been better if there is a bunch of people working on it.

[@MZ.steve23]

Great to came across this video before I made a decision to specialise in something... I always have a concern that should I specialise in something or should I not? If I do specialise in something, my future career path will be much more stable and even when it comes to hard time (economic recession, unemployment etc.), that skills that I choose to obtain may help me survive; however in that case, my vision will be limited in one area and I will have less flexibility. If I choose not to specialise in something, and only have some "clerk level" skill, I might end up getting nothing anyway further, and I will not be able to create any value for my own life... After watching this I will think twice before I made the decision, it is a helpful video to further explore this topic, Thanks! What's important is always have the learning attitude, that's what I've taken from this video

[@JonathanChuMD]

Love your videos on the current digital renaissance--agree that generalists are very much underrated! Some innovations do come from tremendous knowledge within a small niche, but more often, I think the greatest breakthroughs come from the cross-pollination of various fields, and of course Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Da Vinci are all well-known examples of this. In medicine the specialities are where the most money and prestige are, which is part of the reason I sub-specialized, but honestly, the most impressive physicians are the most erudite and experienced internists, who seem to just a lot about everything; they can hold a high-level conversation about my field, and yet also know much more outside fields like cardiology and pulmonology. It's also true that staying in one narrow field can get very repetitive--even one like medicine, which is why I decided to start pursuing my childhood dreams of filmmaking and writing. Difficult to believe you're only 24, you're very mature for your age! Cheers

[@tillmusshoff]

26 now, the video is 2 years old, learned a lot since then! Thanks for the compliment and good luck achieving your dreams. I will also go deeper into filmmaking one day!

[@SeanofAllTrades]

Please don't compare Steve Jobs or Elon Musk to DaVinci. That's insulting to DaVinci.

[@hakuamper365]

Anyone thought it was Levy on the thumbnail?

[@spirita4072]

How to monetize the learning curve? That is a very tough question...

[@eruditox]

I was always struggling with being a "generalist" as I don't get to keep focus on one skill only. Actually I believe the broader your experimetal skills horizon is, the higher your sky of creations will be. - Abdelkader Haddag

[@user12345654]

Generalist vs specialist vs generalized specialist. A really nice video. 👍

[@thebeatles9]

college teaches the skills needed to be proper learner and student, the actual information you can get from the textbook. it's the student - professor mentorship and working assignments, and spending hours in labs, and being a part of the learning community (your peers, events, etc) that is the reason you pay to go. It's much harder to get something like that online via reddit, stack overflow, etc. and there is no standardization.